Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $179.00 and last traded at $177.87, with a volume of 42380 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $176.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on BPOP. Truist Financial upped their price target on Popular from $192.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $178.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Popular from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Popular from $201.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Popular currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $186.92.

Popular Stock Up 0.5%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $168.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.06. The stock has a market cap of $11.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.61.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $846.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $878.41 million. Popular had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 21.37%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 15.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Popular news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total value of $45,108.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $595,425.60. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lidio Soriano sold 3,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.50, for a total transaction of $523,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 107,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,727,340. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 53,261 shares of company stock valued at $9,336,093 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Popular

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the second quarter valued at $1,067,000. Foster & Motley Inc. acquired a new stake in Popular in the 2nd quarter valued at about $780,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Popular during the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,916,000. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Popular during the second quarter worth about $6,914,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Popular by 108.3% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 149,094 shares of the bank’s stock worth $24,478,000 after acquiring an additional 77,507 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Popular

Popular, Inc, headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a financial holding company and a leading provider of banking services in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Through its primary subsidiaries—Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Popular Bank—the company delivers comprehensive commercial and consumer banking solutions. It offers deposit products, lending facilities, cash management services and payment-processing solutions designed for individuals, small businesses and large corporations.

The company’s product suite encompasses checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial mortgage loans, business lines of credit and credit cards.